Excerpt: 2032 Acceptance Speech
The President easily won re-election. Because of the ill-health of his Vice-President, Barspool chose Governor Barkley as his running mate, which made his ticket all the stronger. The other parties ran their own candidates, but no one expected to win. The Civil Society was working. The other candidates couldn’t deny it but said it was taking too long. Voters, however, whether they thought so or not, didn’t want to change course. Most of them had been untouched by the changing way the government dealt with deviation. And the media, like the Society channel, reassured them that things were getting better. A new optimism had arisen in the country.
What was there to be pessimistic about! Children enjoyed school more. Students who disrupted classes were dealt with, either living at home and going to alternate schools or going to boarding schools. Standardized test scores across the country were going up. There were many neighborhoods in which people felt more at ease, not fearing the intruder as much as they had before. Science was well-funded, and new technologies and innovations made living less expensive and more comfortable. New energies became better. Everyone had internet without paying for it. The sick could visit clinics without paying, and they didn’t have to worry about going broke if they had to stay in a hospital. That is, many of the fears people had about life and making a living had practically vanished, and more people considered themselves middle-class than had in years. Money was moving around in the economy as more people had money to spend.
The venue for the President’s acceptance speech looked like the venue at any other acceptance speech. The stage was decorated with red, white and blue signs bearing the President’s name. His family, the Vice-President and his family and some key aides were on stage behind him as he stood at the podium. “Can we do something about these lights?” he asked. “I can’t see anyone past the second row.” Soon the lights were adjusted to his liking, and he began.
“Friends. Fellow Americans. Thank you very much for your support and your patience. It was just a little over four years ago that I gave the first details of the Civil Society. It wasn’t even called the Civil Society then. It was just a dream. An inspiration. I knew the idea was right, but no one had ever tried it. After four years, we’ve started to make progress, and I think we’ve made good progress. It’s with the help of all of you that made it possible. You forced Washington to reform. You told your Representatives and Senators to take care of the people, not their wallets. And it’s brought dramatic results. Washington is voting for you now, not for the big money. Sometimes I wondered if it was going to happen, but you made it happen. I want to thank you for having the trust in me to do that. I am forever grateful.
“Like every President who’s been re-elected, I have to say that our work isn’t done. Of course, it’s never done. With every step we take, we find that there are more things to consider and more obstacles to overcome. While we’ve made life safer and more comfortable for many, and while we’ve been compassionate to those who had once made us uncomfortable, we can still do more, and we can do it better. Technology and experience have helped us to do better.
“As far as obstacles go, I would say that technology is our biggest obstacle to continuing our free society. For example, there are those who call for cameras everywhere so that criminals can be more easily caught. We have the technology to do that, of course, but we must be very careful how we use our technology. Along with the millions or billions of cameras that could be put up comes the opportunity for you to be watched. It won’t be long until our technology would allow the government to watch millions of its citizens and someday to watch every citizen. I want to warn you tonight that that is a frightening scenario.
“Right now, our government appears to be honest and looking out for we the peoples’ rights. But what about a future of being monitored? We cannot be lulled into being so comfortable that we allow the government to become a Big Brother, no matter how benevolent that Big Brother may seem. Technology is advancing so rapidly that we can’t imagine what it will bring us.
“Therefore, we must be observant and watchful. We must guard our rights diligently. While we want to rid the body of our country of cancers and diseases, we want to always be sure that we act in the best interests of everyone. That includes the individual members who are ill. We help them and guide them to become productive members, productive and working cells in this body.
"For those who can't work, we've made great strides. Think about the mentally ill. We used to put them into institutions, many of which were woefully deficient. The prisoners there lived in cells not much different than prison cells. How can we possibly treat a person in such inhumane conditions? We've since improved our services and help people as much as possible to recover. Barring recovery, we at least let them live their lives in dignity. That's what the Civil Society is about.
“If a hundred or two hundred years from now we’ve left a legacy, let that legacy be that we cared about others, that we did our best to help the poor and weak and to raise them up to live useful and comfortable lives. Let our legacy be that we had compassion for the criminal. We found ways to help everyone. And hopefully, just hopefully, society a hundred or two hundred years from now will be thinking as we do now. We can have compassion for people, and we can make a society that is good for everyone. In fact, a compassionate society is a stronger society than the hateful, fearful society.
“At times, it won’t be easy. Twenty years from now, our leaders may complain that it's too hard to run a campaign without more money. Don’t let them have the money. Be sure you remember what we’ve been through. The obstructionism. The legal corruption. The leaders voting for money and not for the people. And pass on that knowledge to your children.
“Pass on to them the fact that we used to put people in small, concrete cells and lock them in for years because they committed crimes. Pass it on that we paid handsomely for that privilege and that we never had the comfort of saying that we’ve helped these people in any way. Tell your children, and have them tell their children that we have evolved and learned the better way, which is to help the criminal, the bully, the mentally ill and other people who we never helped before. And in most cases, it wasn’t their faults.
“We’ve progressed to a society that recognizes that every person deserves help, and that when we help them, we improve our society. We are safer. We have fewer drug problems. We have less abuse. We have less crime. When people cannot get what they need, and when people live in fear, they become frustrated and fearful. So, we have these problems to a greater extent. Make sure that future generations understand the power of a compassionate society.
“Once you let your guard down and allow politicians to take control again, it will be too late. Once technology advances and you’ve allowed it to control your lives, it will be too late. So, although this isn’t much of an acceptance speech, it is what’s in my heart. I pray that somehow we will be spared a dangerous future. You, the people, are the ones to ensure that that future never comes, and we will strongly emphasize this in schools.
“And so, yes, I do thank you. I thank you with all my heart that you have honored me with your trust. I will do everything I can to guide us into an even more compassionate, free, democratic and comfortable future, a future in which no one is left behind.
“I love you all. Thank you.”
What was there to be pessimistic about! Children enjoyed school more. Students who disrupted classes were dealt with, either living at home and going to alternate schools or going to boarding schools. Standardized test scores across the country were going up. There were many neighborhoods in which people felt more at ease, not fearing the intruder as much as they had before. Science was well-funded, and new technologies and innovations made living less expensive and more comfortable. New energies became better. Everyone had internet without paying for it. The sick could visit clinics without paying, and they didn’t have to worry about going broke if they had to stay in a hospital. That is, many of the fears people had about life and making a living had practically vanished, and more people considered themselves middle-class than had in years. Money was moving around in the economy as more people had money to spend.
The venue for the President’s acceptance speech looked like the venue at any other acceptance speech. The stage was decorated with red, white and blue signs bearing the President’s name. His family, the Vice-President and his family and some key aides were on stage behind him as he stood at the podium. “Can we do something about these lights?” he asked. “I can’t see anyone past the second row.” Soon the lights were adjusted to his liking, and he began.
“Friends. Fellow Americans. Thank you very much for your support and your patience. It was just a little over four years ago that I gave the first details of the Civil Society. It wasn’t even called the Civil Society then. It was just a dream. An inspiration. I knew the idea was right, but no one had ever tried it. After four years, we’ve started to make progress, and I think we’ve made good progress. It’s with the help of all of you that made it possible. You forced Washington to reform. You told your Representatives and Senators to take care of the people, not their wallets. And it’s brought dramatic results. Washington is voting for you now, not for the big money. Sometimes I wondered if it was going to happen, but you made it happen. I want to thank you for having the trust in me to do that. I am forever grateful.
“Like every President who’s been re-elected, I have to say that our work isn’t done. Of course, it’s never done. With every step we take, we find that there are more things to consider and more obstacles to overcome. While we’ve made life safer and more comfortable for many, and while we’ve been compassionate to those who had once made us uncomfortable, we can still do more, and we can do it better. Technology and experience have helped us to do better.
“As far as obstacles go, I would say that technology is our biggest obstacle to continuing our free society. For example, there are those who call for cameras everywhere so that criminals can be more easily caught. We have the technology to do that, of course, but we must be very careful how we use our technology. Along with the millions or billions of cameras that could be put up comes the opportunity for you to be watched. It won’t be long until our technology would allow the government to watch millions of its citizens and someday to watch every citizen. I want to warn you tonight that that is a frightening scenario.
“Right now, our government appears to be honest and looking out for we the peoples’ rights. But what about a future of being monitored? We cannot be lulled into being so comfortable that we allow the government to become a Big Brother, no matter how benevolent that Big Brother may seem. Technology is advancing so rapidly that we can’t imagine what it will bring us.
“Therefore, we must be observant and watchful. We must guard our rights diligently. While we want to rid the body of our country of cancers and diseases, we want to always be sure that we act in the best interests of everyone. That includes the individual members who are ill. We help them and guide them to become productive members, productive and working cells in this body.
"For those who can't work, we've made great strides. Think about the mentally ill. We used to put them into institutions, many of which were woefully deficient. The prisoners there lived in cells not much different than prison cells. How can we possibly treat a person in such inhumane conditions? We've since improved our services and help people as much as possible to recover. Barring recovery, we at least let them live their lives in dignity. That's what the Civil Society is about.
“If a hundred or two hundred years from now we’ve left a legacy, let that legacy be that we cared about others, that we did our best to help the poor and weak and to raise them up to live useful and comfortable lives. Let our legacy be that we had compassion for the criminal. We found ways to help everyone. And hopefully, just hopefully, society a hundred or two hundred years from now will be thinking as we do now. We can have compassion for people, and we can make a society that is good for everyone. In fact, a compassionate society is a stronger society than the hateful, fearful society.
“At times, it won’t be easy. Twenty years from now, our leaders may complain that it's too hard to run a campaign without more money. Don’t let them have the money. Be sure you remember what we’ve been through. The obstructionism. The legal corruption. The leaders voting for money and not for the people. And pass on that knowledge to your children.
“Pass on to them the fact that we used to put people in small, concrete cells and lock them in for years because they committed crimes. Pass it on that we paid handsomely for that privilege and that we never had the comfort of saying that we’ve helped these people in any way. Tell your children, and have them tell their children that we have evolved and learned the better way, which is to help the criminal, the bully, the mentally ill and other people who we never helped before. And in most cases, it wasn’t their faults.
“We’ve progressed to a society that recognizes that every person deserves help, and that when we help them, we improve our society. We are safer. We have fewer drug problems. We have less abuse. We have less crime. When people cannot get what they need, and when people live in fear, they become frustrated and fearful. So, we have these problems to a greater extent. Make sure that future generations understand the power of a compassionate society.
“Once you let your guard down and allow politicians to take control again, it will be too late. Once technology advances and you’ve allowed it to control your lives, it will be too late. So, although this isn’t much of an acceptance speech, it is what’s in my heart. I pray that somehow we will be spared a dangerous future. You, the people, are the ones to ensure that that future never comes, and we will strongly emphasize this in schools.
“And so, yes, I do thank you. I thank you with all my heart that you have honored me with your trust. I will do everything I can to guide us into an even more compassionate, free, democratic and comfortable future, a future in which no one is left behind.
“I love you all. Thank you.”